ROCHESTER, N.Y. – When most people hear AI, they might think of something in Silicon Valley that won’t come to Rochester until it’s here for a human’s job, but the Flower City AI conference was meant to show that AI is already here.

Artificial Intelligence is a machine’s ability to learn from its mistakes and do things that normally a person would have to do.

“It’s a tool, it’s not, you know, some sci fi terminator thing. It’s actually a very very powerful tool, that people can use to make their lives better.”

Max Irwin organized the Flower City AI Conference. At his company, max.io, he’s using AI to eventually create a virtual research assistant. One that could organize, analyze, and summarize documents.

“AI is changing things like the internet changed things. so, we’re going to see a big shift in the way that people do work.”

Throughout the day, several speakers came on stage to showcase how they use AI to further their fields. One of them University of Rochester PHD student Masum Hasan. He’s using AI to create a virtual teacher. The AI will be able to build courses on anything you want, for however long you want it to take.

Another speaker, Chris Cooley with Cooley Comics is using AI image generation to help people create their own comic books, based on their lives. Cooley says the idea, and their first comic, came from his friend Tony, who has cerebral palsy.

“We rely on AI to generate some of the visuals, most of the visuals, so that people can have access to creative output that they normally wouldn’t.”

Irwin calls his conference an example of AI for good. Showing all the work that’s happening right now, in Rochester, to better people’s lives. He and many at the conference say AI is a new frontier, and they want others to embrace it.

“The relationship that we end up having with AI is really interesting. It’s sort of like, how do we use the internet? Like, what were we scared of when the internet came out? It’s change.”

To learn more about the conference and the speakers, click here.